Senior Year
by ayePercabeth
Summary: He wished he wasn’t so dangerously attracted to Annabeth Chase. Maybe he wouldn’t have gotten into detention, or that fist fight with Luke. Maybe he wouldn’t have ended up pouring his heart out for the first time. Or giving into sexual tension. Maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in this insane mess. (Slow Burn Percabeth)
1. First Day

**Percy's POV**

Percy parked his blue Genesis in the school parking lot. He grumbled something under his breath, but his passenger, Grover, didn't notice.

"I can't believe we're _actually_ starting senior year, Perce," Grover said.

"I know," Percy replied, although he didn't seem very happy. "I just wanna get this school year over with."

"Trust me, I feel the same way." His best friend clapped him on the back and sent him a friendly smile before stepping out the car with his backpack slung over his shoulder. Percy followed.

"I gotta go drop off my stuff for Swim, but I'll meet you by our lockers afterwards, 'kay?" said Percy.

Grover nodded understandably.

Percy hauled his duffle bag through the halls with his backpack barely on his shoulder. Passing everyone in the corridors, he got a sort of nostalgic feeling- Although he despised school, he _did_ have quite a few good memories here.

While making his journey, he ran into his other best buddy, Jason.

"Hey, man!" Jason exclaimed.

Percy grinned and they did that weird bro-hug thing.

"You heading to the lockers?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. Coach is gonna have my ass if I'm not there in two minutes. I'm expected to be there to discuss stuff with him."

"Oh, right!" Percy remembered. "Captain duties now! Dude, that's awesome." He himself understood what it was like to be captain- He'd been swim team captain since last year. "But I guess we better hurry though, huh?"

Jason chuckled as he and Percy sped through the hall, racing towards the boys' locker room.

They made it to their destination and were finally shoving their bags into their athletic lockers.

Percy turned to Jason. "Where's Piper by the way? I didn't see her with you." Piper's Jason's girlfriend.

"Oh yeah. She's _cheer captain_ now. So she has to be at school even earlier that us, considering cheer period is first period."

Percy hummed in response. He didn't know Piper very well, the same with all her friends. They were kinda the _populars_ , but it wasn't bad or anything. And they had good reasons to be popular, rather than a list of guys they've slept with and a big ass. Although the one with the blond curls had a pretty nice ass...

Percy shook the thoughts from his mind. He hated himself when he thought stuff like that- He felt like he was invading their privacy or something. It was disrespectful; His mother taught him better than that.

Percy eventually made it to his locker, _right next to Grover's_. Awesome, right? (Jason was busy with the football coach. )

For a good minute or two, Percy just stood there as Grover was on his phone. He was pretty sure he didn't even notice him.

Grover finally hung up and jumped at Percy's presence. "Whoa! You scared me, man."

Percy just laughed it off. "Juniper?" he inquired.

Grover's cheeks grew terribly red. It was so obvious the two of them liked each other, everyone knew. Why they weren't an official thing yet, Percy had no idea.

Grover's response resulted in a bunch of stammering. Percy laughed to himself.

"Since we're on the topic..." Grover began, changing the initial subject. "What's up with you and Rachel? Do y'all even talk anymore?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Nope. I told you man, everything just got awkward with her. She told me she wanted a break and I was totally okay with it, then I never heard from her since."

"You mean the whole summer she didn't send one text?"

Percy shook his head. "I'm not even mad about it anymore. We weren't going anywhere anyways." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against his locker.

Grover frowned. "I though the bell was supposed to ring at-"

Then the bell rang.

"Never mind then," he muttered. "See ya in homeroom."

Percy waved off and strolled his way to Marine Biology.

The period eventually passed and needless to say, the teacher, Mrs. Ross, was a complete bore. But she seemed to know what she was doing.

Percy walked into homeroom, Mr. Brunner's. (Their homeroom period was between first and second period.)

He found his friends and quickly sat down. "Where's Grace and Zhang?"

"They both got Mr. Titus this year," Leo replied. His deep brown eyes were set with concentration as he fiddled with a bunch of paper before him.

"What're you making?"

"Paper football." Leo looked up with his usual mischievous grin. Percy mirror the expression.

Grover butted in. "Can you please explain it to me again? I don't understand how doing _that_ is supposed to work."

As Leo, annoyed, explained the game for probably the tenth time already, Percy zoned out as he caught eye of someone walking through the door.

She walked in with an aura of confidence, and her honey curls bounced ever-so-slightly. But oh boy... Those gray eyes...

 _Annabeth Chase._

Percy recognized her immediately. Who wouldn't? She was definitely one of the most popular girls in school, and not for being preppy and hot. She was athletic and fit, seeing as though she played soccer freshman and sophomore year, and now a track star. Her grades were always absolutely phenomenal- Valedictorian was easily her's. She also managed to balance an internship _and_ a job. It was like she could do anything. A badass vibe radiated off of her, warning everyone to not mess with her. To top it all off, she was _stunning_.

Percy stared in awe. He'd been in the same school with her since sixth grade but she never ceased to amaze him. He never had a real thing for her though- You could call it... _infatuation_.

She was also dating the hunk Luke Castellan, so it's not like they had any sort of chance anyway.

She sat down a few tables away from him, with her best friends Piper and Thalia in tow. Piper was also drop-dead gorgeous, but Percy never felt any sort attraction towards Thalia. She was too... _punk_. She was also Jason's older sister (she got held back a year).

Percy decided he should probably stop staring at some point, so he returned his attention to his own table.

"Were you just checking out _Annabeth_?" Leo asked.

"Maybe," Percy uttered.

"Dude! She's terrifying! Why?!"

Percy lifted his hands in protest. "Doesn't mean I can't check her out."

"You disgust me. Just promise to keep you eyes off Calypso." He winked.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. You act like you have a chance."

Leo scoffed. "Well, excuse you!"

Percy and Grover laughed.

"Wait," Grover piped in. "Isn't Nico supposed to be in here?"

"He's probably skipping. On the first day," Leo chuckled to himself.

"Probably."

The bell finally rang, indicating that homeroom had officially started. Mr. Brunner came into the class on his wheelchair, and parked himself behind his desk.

"'Morning, class," he announced. "I'm just going to take roll and then you may all proceed to whatever stupid teenage things you were doing beforehand."

The class laughed at his last comment.

He said two names then read the next name: "Annabeth Chase?"

"Here," she said simply. Although with such an effortless tone, Percy found her voice strikingly beautiful. He has _got_ to stop thinking like this.

"Nico di Angelo?"

Silence.

"Okay..." Mr. Brunner muttered.

A few more names and,

"Thalia Grace?"

She sighed heavily before replying. "Here."

"Perseus Jackson?"

"Here," he said nonchalantly.

Soon, Mr. Brunner got through all the names with Grover and Leo at the end. The chatter in the room instantly grew to what it was previously.

"Hey Jackson," Leo said to grab Percy's attention. Leo gestured to the paper football figure in his hand and Percy understood. He held his fingers in the form of a hand-field goal.

Leo steadied his "football" as he closed one eye to improve his aim. He flicked the paper and it went right past Percy and towards where the girls were.

Percy scrunched his eyebrows as he looked at the brown haired boy before him. "You suck."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Can you just get the football, please?"

Percy reluctantly got up from his seat and towards the girls. Very hesitantly, he bent down right next to Annabeth to pick up the toy.

"'Scuse me," he muttered through his teeth.

Annabeth stared at him in confusion. Her eyebrows knit together.

When Percy stood up again, he gave her a light smile before walking off.

He couldn't tell if that was an embarrassing moment or not. Definitely was awkward.

Percy returned to his desk surrounded by Leo and Grover. He tossed the paper football to Valdez and sat back down.

Percy still felt a twinge of awkwardness from the very slight encounter he just endured, and his friends most likely noticed it, but he acted like nothing happened.

"I'm gonna say this once more, Valdez; You suck."

Homeroom seemed to last much shorter than it actually was, but Percy figured it was most likely because they weren't spending all their time doing worthless classwork.

Second period was world history- his only good subject. (If you exclude Marine Biology).

The teacher, Mr. Bishop, ordered everyone to line up in the back of the class to assign seats. Percy already had a permanent headache from the guy. The classroom itself was crowded with various annoying posters- some with dumb acronyms for history, others that are supposed to encourage you to succeed, or whatever.

The room felt so enclosed, like there was no _openness_. Percy had to resist his instinctive urge to roll his eyes at almost every word that fell from Mr. Bishop's mouth. He knew he was gonna grow to hate this very class.

But, he caught a certain blond out of the corner of his eye entering the room, and suddenly he felt like maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

She joined everyone at the end of the thread of students, still waiting for Mr. Bishop to actually assign the seats. And after the bell rang, he found it the appropriate time to begin.

Percy tunneled his hearing, completely blocking everything else out until he heard his name called.

"Perseus Jackson." Mr. Bishop pointed to a table placed off to side of the classroom. Each desk was paired with another, meaning they would be partners whenever partner assignments came up.

Percy shuffled his way to the wooden desk where he predicted a lot of napping to take place. But what the teacher said next took him by surprise.

"Annabeth Chase."

 _Annabeth Chase?! Desk partner?!_

Percy took in a sharp breath but eased himself as quickly as he could. He was already tapping his pencil annoyingly on the desk- Partially for the ADHD, the other reason approaching his presence.

She sat down and pulled out a book.

Very soon, Mr. Bishop finished seating everyone and told the class to do whatever. He apparently had a lot copies to go make.

Percy and Annabeth were both sitting there minding their own business, but the silence was _killing him._ He had to say something.

"Hey, so-"

"Why are you talking to me?" She retorted, not even looking up from her book.

Percy knit his brows. "Well I figured since we're partners and stuff-"

"You figured wrong. Please don't talk to me."

Well, _damn_. Okay.

Percy leaned back in his chair. He definitely wasn't expecting a reaction like _that_.

 _Did I offend her somehow?_ He thought. _No, there's no way._ They've never even exchanged formal words before now.

But that overwhelming silence filled the air after a while, and Percy couldn't take it.

"What book are you reading?" He inquired.

She closed the said book and turned to look at him. " _Percy_."

"How do you know my name?" He was completely baffled.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows your name, moron. You're kind of _captain of the swim team_."

"Oh. Right."

"Now can you please shut it?" She began reopening her book.

"Well since you asked so nicely," he muttered under his breath.

She immediately shut the book again. "What was that?"

He flinched. "Nothing."

She sent him a daring squint, before opening her book for the third time that period.

Leo's words played in his head: _She's terrifying_.

Well, there was no doubt about that. And the way her eyes glimmered screamed a whole other level of _back off_. Yet they were still strikingly beautiful.

Even though the slight bicker sent a foul feeling in him, Percy had slightest excitement about having Annabeth in back-to-back classes. He doubted the feeling was mutual, though.

Percy continued tapping his pencil on his desk- It helped calm him. He scanned the room, taking in several aspects. He read every single poster, but his dyslexia prevented him from actually understanding about half of them.

"Would you stop tapping that pencil?" Annabeth, clearly annoyed, asked.

Percy blinked. He hadn't even realized he was still tapping. He understood that the constant noise could be really obnoxious, so he stopped.

"Thank you," she said. Despite her coldness, she had manners. That's a plus.

He couldn't help but take in the gorgeous sight of her princess curls; As far as he knew, they were completely natural, color and all. Her hair looked like it was truly a gift from the gods. Seriously.

"When are you gonna stop staring, Jackson?"

Percy stilled. Annabeth's face was still shoved in her book, so he didn't expect her to notice.

One thing he's gathered from the day: Don't underestimate Annabeth.

"I- Sorry," Percy said shamefully. He could've sworn he heard a light chuckle from her direction, but he doubted such a thing came from her.

Without knowing, Percy began tapping his foot and his leg was bouncing up and down. His long and slender fingers tapped in rhythmic patterns on the desk.

Annabeth sighed and closed her book. "Percy, are you anxious or something?"

He turned his gaze towards her. He must seem like an _absolute_ mess.

"Wha-? No."

"You seem on edge," she studied. Another thing Percy noted: Annabeth could read right through you.

"It's... I have ADHD. I swear I took my pills this morning." Percy spoke with a tone of nervousness and Annabeth almost seemed to take pity on it.

"Oh," was all she said.

He didn't expect her to write a whole apology or anything, her reactions were completely understandable. I mean, how else are you supposed to reply to that?

Instead of returning to her book, Annabeth sat in her seat cross-legged and glanced randomly around the room. Her interest in the book seemed lost, or rather she was just interested in other things.

There were still fifteen minutes left in class. So Percy settled for a really quick power-nap. Placing his arms on the desk, he rested his head upon them and forced his eyes to shut.

Percy woke up with a start when the bell rang, and found Annabeth already halfway out the door with the rest of the class not far behind.

He shot from his desk, hurriedly grabbing his things, and headed for third period.

Third and fourth period weren't that bad. He had Jason in third (which was his algebra). Apparently Mr. Titus, Jason's homeroom teacher, was a complete ass. Frank definitely agreed when he and Percy were together in fourth period (English). The math teacher seemed alright, but definitely strict. And the English teacher had absolutely no clue what she was doing.

Percy entered the cafeteria for fifth period- Lunch. He was definitely used to seeing the wacky crowd- after all, this was his senior year. He quickly spotted Grover and sped his way to the table he was sitting at.

"Oh thank god!" Grover exclaimed as Percy appeared. "I thought I was gonna be eating _alone_."

Percy chuckled. "I haven't seen any of the others but I'm sure they'll find us."

Grover nodded and took a bite out of his sandwich. "I don't think we have any classes together this year. What other classes do you have?"

"Culinary, chemistry, and athletics."

Grover dropped his sandwich. "Wait you're taking culinary?!"

Percy nodded as if to say _yeah-so?_

"Don't you suck at cooking?"

"That's why I'm taking the class, G-man."

"Just one more class to fail then," he joked. Percy rolled his eyes.

Soon, Jason, Piper, and Leo strolled in and sat at the table. Everyone started conversing, and it felt like summer had never even happened.

"Hey, Perce... I see Juniper across the cafeteria so if you don't mind I'm just gonna..." Grover trailed off and shot from his seat, making way to a certain auburn-haired girl. He didn't even give Percy a chance to say anything. Though, Percy didn't mind anyways. He laughed to himself.

From a quick glance around the room, Percy spotted _Annabeth Chase_ entering with none other... Luke Castellan. They strode in together, as if they completely owned the place. They sat down with Thalia, Charles Beckendorf, and Silena Beauregard. Why had Percy suddenly grown this odd attraction towards Annabeth? Even though she was pretty much an asshole?

"Piper, do you know what Tristan is planning for tonight? 'Cause I told-" Leo began.

"Leo, I already told you that he's gonna be gone this entire week. Movie shooting."

Leo's mouth formed an _oh_ as he nodded. Piper and her father were Leo's foster family, so they really were like brother and sister. He'd been their foster kid since seventh grade. Tristan McLean had considered adopting, but seeing as though Leo would be an adult soon, he found no need to. Leo had even insisted that adoption was unnecessary- he hated feeling like a burden.

Piper took a glance at the table that Annabeth was sitting at and turned to Jason. "I told Annabeth I'd sit with her today..."

"It's okay," Jason said. "I don't mind; Go ahead."

Piper smiled and hugged her boyfriend before striding towards Annabeth. That left Percy, Jason, and Leo at the table.

The two other boys continued conversation, but Percy's eyes were set where Piper was heading. For a second, he caught Annabeth's eyes with his. She quickly looked away.

Jason slapped his arm with the back of his hand. "What're you looking at?"

When Percy didn't reply, Leo began grinning and shaking his head. "He's got a lil something for Chase."

"Annabeth?!" Jason practically shouted.

"Shhh!!!" Percy clamped his hand over Jason's mouth hurriedly and looked around to make sure no one heard. No one seemed to have their attention turned to that direction, thankfully.

Percy turned to Leo. "Will you shut up?" He let go of Jason. "I don't have a _thing_ for her. She's just really nice to look at."

The blonde snorted. "Okay."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm serious! She's a really big asshole anyways."

Jason and Leo shrugged it off and continued to eat their food. And before Percy knew it, lunch was over. After lunch was free period, which he used to just mingle with all his friends.

Sixth period was culinary. Once Percy stepped inside the classroom, everything looked _way_ too intimidating for him. Sure, his mom was an _awesome_ chef, who he'd seen cook numerous times, but _this_ was a whole other level. What did half of those tools even do? Were they even necessary?

Percy sat down in an empty seat. Each table was set up so you'd be grouped into twos. Sure enough, someone came to occupy it. When he looked up, he found a beautiful girl with chocolate skin and bronze hair. Hazel Levesque.

He grinned at her presence and she returned the smile.

"I was so afraid I was gonna be stuck with someone as clueless as me. Now I'm sure to pass this class," he jokes. Hazel just laughed softly.

Percy and Hazel got to know each other through Frank last year. She was a year younger than all of Percy and his friends, but she was mature enough to be a mother of three, really. She was a true sweetheart, and an amazing friend.

Throughout the entire class, they quietly joked around as friends always did. They were supposed to be reading pages out of some cookbook that Mrs. Mauve assigned, but they only pretended to do so.

He left that period happy. Who couldn't be happy around _the_ Hazel Levesque? Captain of the varsity volleyball team? Blue ribbon winner of national equestrian competitions? Volunteer at the local animal hospital? The list just goes on...

Entering seventh period, chemistry, Percy got a cold feeling up his spine. His first thought was that maybe it was Mr. Harper, the supposedly really strict teacher... but then he saw it. Or rather, _her_.

Percy spotted her crazy red curls sitting lazily in the back of the dull classroom. She didn't seem to notice him though.

 _Shit, shit, shit,_ he thought to himself. They hadn't talked since... He couldn't even remember. It was sometime during the end if last school year, but it didn't matter. Feelings of anger, confusion, and disappointment washed over him. She didn't respond to any of his texts or calls... After a while, he just gave up and accepted the fact that she no longer wanted the relationship. For good.

Percy was definitely over it, but that didn't stop the overwhelming awkwardness he expected for the rest of year. Worst thing was... the only seat left was right in front of her. He swallowed a lump of pride and sat at the desk. She _still_ didn't seem to notice him- She was too involved in whatever she was drawing on her sketchpad.

But sure enough after the teacher introduced himself and ordered everyone to scan through their textbooks, Percy felt a light tap on his shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that she wasn't _really_ trying to get his attention.

But being the kind person he was, Percy reluctantly turned in his seat and met her green eyes. He always thought of them as the color of guacamole, but that wasn't important.

"Hey," she said. He couldn't read her expression.

"Hey, Rachel."

There was a really awkward silence between the two. Just before Percy started turning back around, Rachel spoke up again. "I... Sorry for not responding to you all summer," She said with a small smile at the end as if to say _please don't be mad at me._

Percy scrunched his eyebrows together and nodded very slowly. "It's... whatever. It's fine." He turned back around.

Another tap came about on his shoulder. "Percy, I'm sorry. I really am. I hope things aren't too awkward for us."

But they already were.

After school, Percy had a shift at the nearby waterpark, Wave Way **(A/N: Not a real place lol).** He wasn't really sure why they thought people would be visiting at this time on a Monday. But he had to go anyways.

Being a lifeguard was really easy for Percy, not to mention it made him look like an _even better_ swim competitor to his coaches. The pay was just a above minimum wage, but _hey_ , it was still money.

Percy had his bright red swim trunks on along with his whistle hanging around his neck. Once he clocked in, he grabbed one of the buoys and headed towards his stand. The place was almost empty, but nonetheless, still had visitors.

Percy squinted across the way all on the other side of the wave pool at the other lifeguard stand. Was that... _Reyna_?

"Hey!" he called out to her.

Reyna's head jerked around to look at Percy.

"What?" she called back.

"I thought you were quitting!"

"Don't worry- I am soon!"

"To where?"

"I don't know!"

"Okay! Cool!"

It was clear Reyna hated being a lifeguard. Percy wasn't sure the _exact_ reason why, but he could tell it bored the life out of her for one thing.

Percy's throat only ached slightly from the loud (yet bland) conversation, but he returned to scanning throughout the small waterpark for any signs of danger.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a group of teenagers walking through the entrance.

Thalia, Silena, Charlie, Luke, and Annabeth. Shocker. They were all laughing and talking as they set up lockers for their stuff. Percy couldn't help but notice how _awesome_ Annabeth looked in her swim suit. It seemed as though it was made specifically for her. Her luscious curls bounced as she and Luke headed for one of the water slides.

 _I_ need _to stop looking at Annabeth. Seriously._

So whenever Percy spotted Annabeth, he quickly averted his eyes. Nothing eventful was happening and he could've sworn that he almost fell asleep.

But then, he found a kid climbing up the wall of the wave pool (breaking the rules!). Percy blew his whistle and motioned for the kid to get off. He gave Percy an annoyed look before hopping off the wall and splashing back into the water.

 _Punk_ , Percy thought.

"Percy!" Reyna shouted from across the way. She was pointing frantically at someone near him in the deep end (12 feet), flailing around. _Drowning_.

"Shit," he muttered to himself. Percy leapt off his stand and dove into the water. When he surfaced, he reached the kid in no time, handing him the buoy. He came up sputtering water out of his mouth and coughing.

Percy swam swiftly to the "shore" so the kid could actually stand for himself.

"Thank you," he choked out.

Percy nodded his head as in a _you're welcome._ "Just don't go that far again, okay?"

The little kid nodded his head reluctantly and ran away, probably getting into more trouble.

When Percy turned to head back to his stand, he got a glimpse of Annabeth. And for a second, they held each other's eyes, just like in lunch today. The two quickly looked away and went back to whatever they were doing.

Percy really didn't comprehend everything of that day. It was all blur. So many events occurred, all so different and confusing, that his brain almost exploded thinking about it.

 _The first time meeting Annabeth Chase was a complete flop. Yet somehow he had this crazy infatuation with her on the spot. He still had no idea what he was doing in culinary. Rachel was in his chemistry class... And now he just saved a kid from actually drowning. In front of Annabeth. He also had a swim meet to worry about for next week. Too much._

Senior year will definitely be one to remember.

 **Hope you all enjoyed!! I got a lot in store :)**


	2. Forgiveness

**Just wanna give a disclaimer that sexual themes WILL be presented throughout this story. If talking about sex makes you uncomfortable, I suggest you stop reading.**

 **Percy's POV**

It'd been a little over a week since the first day of school. Today was Thursday, and tomorrow night Percy had a swim meet. He wasn't worried at all, unless you counted the despair for the scrawny kid who'd just joined the team on Tuesday.

Percy was currently dozing off in algebra, as he had done in the past two classes. He was up all night last night doing last-minute chemistry homework; He initially put it off because he sucks at chemistry and can hardly understand a thing, but then after a good three days of attempting, he gave up and didn't touch the assignment... Until the night before it was due.

How can it be that it's only the second week of school and Percy's effort was already falling apart? It was sad. Percy _knew_ it was sad.

So sleeping during a math lesson definitely didn't help. Thank God for Jason being in the same class; Percy could borrow his notes.

Once the bell rang, Percy sprang from his desk and out into the hallway.

A thousand things ran through his cluttered mind:

 _I really hope I don't fail the chem homework_ too _bad._

 _Hopefully Jason has time today to send me the notes from algebra..._

 _Damn it, I have a quiz next period!_

 _Wait... Did I study for that? I don't remember the material. Oh well. We're winging it._

 _I'm somehow failing culinary... I swear that egg was cooked! Mrs. Mauve was just be a tightass. Yeah, I'm not the best cook but I'm trying._

 _Hey at least I have history together._

 _Hold up... do I?_

 _Aw_ fuck _, I forgot to grab the reading today! And I don't have the questionnaire or the page numbers for the textbook. I must've been falling asleep in that class, too! The only person I know that can help me would be Annabeth..._

 _Wait, is that Annabeth?_

 _Oh my God, it is!_

Percy's scrambled brain switched off as he ran in her direction, praying she wouldn't walk away from her locked by the time he got to her.

As soon as Annabeth slammed her locker shut, Percy's shoes skidded to a stop right next to her.

"Hey," he said with a breathy voice.

She scrunched her eyebrows and eyed him skeptically. "What do you want?"

"I uh..." He swallowed. The girl scared him. "Well, you see, I didn't get all the material I needed from class today... I was kinda out of it-"

"Yeah, I noticed. You drool in your sleep."

"What?" he was slightly offended, but brushed it off immediately and shook his head, continuing. "Anyways... I was wondering if you could send me the stuff over text? I would really appreciate it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever. And I'm only pitying you because of how tired you looked during class. Why were you so sleepy anyways?"

"Chemistry homework."

She snorted. "Chemistry's easy, moron. Especially with all the links to resources the teachers give you."

"There's links?!"

Annabeth laughed. "Next time you need help, just let me know. I can turn your two hour assignment into fifteen minutes."

Percy was skeptical of the offer. "Free of charge?"

"Obviously."

"Okay... Sure, I'll let you know."

"Great. Let me just get my phone so you can put your number in my contacts." Annabeth began digging through her backpack pockets and pulled out her phone. She handed it to him, but as soon as he had hold of it, he dropped it.

 _Oh God._

"Are you kidding me?!"

Percy grew terrified out of his mind. "I'm-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence because next thing he knew, Annabeth had notebooks and folders in both her hands, whacking the daylight out of him.

He was pushed against the wall of lockers and she continued beating his arm and chest.

"Ow! I'm sorry- Please!"

"Moron, moron, moron!"

Annabeth eventually stopped after a while and huffed a strand of hair from her eyes. "Moron."

"Yeah, I got that."

When the two glanced over, they found Mrs. Gonzales, arms crossed, staring with anger.

"You both have detention after school today. Hope it was worth it."

"What?!" They shouted in unison.

"See you then." Mrs. Gonzales walked away, the stern look on her face never fading.

Percy turned to Annabeth. "This is all your fault! You didn't have to beat me up!"

"Oh, you wimp! You're the one that dropped my phone!"

"It was an accident! Now who knows if Coach is gonna let me swim tomorrow!"

Annabeth huffed out and reached down to grab her phone. There was the slightest crack across her screen.

Percy's eyes widened. "Oh shit... I'm sorry. I'll- I-"

Annabeth raised her hand, telling him to shut it. "Just forget about it. And forget about the homework offer too." She stormed off, each step holding anger.

 _Well shit_.

"Man, seriously? What are you gonna do when Coach Langston finds out?" Grover inquired Percy, devouring his sandwich mid-sentence.

Percy sighed heavily. What was he gonna do? Would he be able to participate in tomorrow night's swim meet? Would he be kicked from captain? Would he be set on probation?

 _Stop it,_ he chided himself. _It's one detention. You'll be fine._

"I don't know."

Grover's expression held a lot of worry. "Well you gotta think of something. Langston is terrifying."

Percy rolled his eyes. "He's really not that bad."

"Say whatever you want- the man is a walking nightmare."

Percy laughed softly. His stomach growled in hunger but he didn't really feel like eating anything.

He got up to go use the restroom but as he was making his way, he glanced off to the side and spotted a certain curly blond not too far... talking to Luke Castellan. Actually, they seemed to be arguing. Percy's vision wasn't perfect but it didn't take much to understand that was negative body language. He could even pick up some of the conversation.

"It was stupid! I know that! So now I'm paying for it, I don't need you on my back for this!" Annabeth shouted.

"You got _detention_ ," Luke's face was transformed into an awful scowl. "That could mess up your records, bitch!"

Annabeth's skin grew hot red out of anger. Percy swore he could almost see steam coming out of her ears.

"It's one detention, you asshole! I'm still the best student this school's ever got!"

"But you have it with that _Jackson_ kid."

"And what's so fucking wrong with that? I barely even know him!"

" _I don't trust him_."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?" With that, she walked away furiously and out of the cafeteria. Luke was left so angry, Percy thought for a second he was gonna punch the wall.

That very argument sent chills down his spine. _How does a couple speak to each other like that?_ Neither bothered to keep a low temper, and ended up letting all their feelings flood out without any thought. It looked awful.

 _And why didn't Luke trust him?_ He and Percy had never even talked before...

By the end of the day, Percy's mood had only gotten worse as he trudged his way to D-Hall. He really hated Mrs. Gonzales.

He was mad at Annabeth too... Didn't she overreact? Hitting him was a bit uncalled for... If she'd just kept her cool, they wouldn't have detention. He understood her frustration, but now it was affecting _him_.

And he was so not looking forward to facing Coach Langston when he finds out.

As Percy walked through the threshold of Mrs. Gonzales' D-Hall, he spotted Annabeth already sitting at a desk, right in front of the teacher. He figured she was forced to sit there.

Anger welled up in Percy when took his seat. _He was really in detention right now_. Percy wasn't furious or livid, but this twinge of annoyance lurked inside him.

Annabeth turned to Percy. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No talking!" Mrs. Gonzales ordered.

The two of them flinched at her volume, but returned to sitting straight ahead in their seats. Silence.

Well... The silence didn't last for long. Soon, loud footsteps entered the classroom, and there stood... Coach Langston.

"Now what in the hell do you think you're doing in here, Jackson?!" his voice thundered.

Percy replied with distaste, "Detention."

"Detention?! In the second week of school?! You must've lost your mind, boy!" An angry finger pointed at Percy.

"I'm sorry, Coach. Won't happen again." He could only hope.

"Oh, it better not, you barnacle head. I might as well replace my captain now!"

"Wait, no! I _promise_ , Coach, it won't happen again." Percy's heart thumped in his chest. Being captain of the swim team was something he truly valued, truly loved.

Then suddenly, Annabeth rose from her seat and looked at Langston. "It was my fault, sir. He got detention because of me."

Percy's mouth gaped at her words. Was she standing up for him?

"Now what in the hell do you mean by that, young lady?"

"I beat him up with a bunch of notebooks. Simple as that."

Langston eyed Annabeth and then Percy. "Seriously?"

"Yes, sir. Please don't revoke Percy's captain privileges."

The coach looked weary upon her confession. He breathed in frustratedly before making his decision. "You got one more chance, Jackson. I will _not_ accept this behavior." And with that, he walked out the room.

Mrs. Gonzales could care less about the situation. She continued reading a _Vogue_ magazine with her legs propped upon her desk. "Sit back down, Chase."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and sat back down.

Percy turned in her direction. "Thank you."

"I said _no talking_!" Mrs. Gonzales screamed.

They both ignored her. But Percy was sincerely grateful. He could tell how sorry Annabeth actually felt by how she chose to try and make things right. He forgave her for that.

The rest of detention sucked. They both sat in their seats doing absolutely nothing for another twenty minutes. Once their time was up, they bolted out the door.

"Oh my god, I _hate_ her," Annabeth complained. Was she trying to strike a conversation with him? By the way she was walking right beside him, he supposed so.

"I'm getting a similar feeling. Glad she's not my teacher."

"She's my Dual Credit AP Cal teacher. And the most annoying one out there."

Percy chuckled lightly. "That must _suck_."

"You can say that again."

For a while, they continued to walk together towards the front doors of the school. But then Percy finally spoke up.

"Thank you for what you did back there, by the way."

"You don't have to thank me. I owed it to you. _I_ was the one that attacked you," she said playfully.

"Well I _did_ crack your screen."

"I'll live. It's one crack."

"Yeah, but-"

"What I'm trying to say is that I overreacted, Percy. And I'm really sorry."

A few beats passed. "I forgive you."

Langston almost didn't let Percy swim Friday night at the meet. Percy eventually convinced the man to let him, but it sure wasn't easy.

He had also openly invited everyone to the meet, including Annabeth. He kept telling himself he didn't care whether or not she showed, but there was definitely something inside him that _really_ wanted her to come.

Percy quickly scanned through the bleachers to seek any of his supporters while he stood in front of the diving board. He spotted Jason, Grover, Hazel, and Frank altogether. Apparently Leo had to do family stuff, which would include Piper.

Annabeth didn't seem to be seen anywhere, and a small spur of disappointment ran through Percy's body.

All the thoughts had to be shaken from his mind, though; The race began in one minute! Percy refocused himself the best he could and adjusted his goggles just so. (The goggles always made him feel silly, but they were unfortunately required.)

Stepping onto the board, in line with his competitors, Percy stretched and loosened his muscles. He had a routine he knocked down in freshman year, still using it to this day. Soon, his vision seemed to tunnel in on his lane to at the end of the pool. Adrenaline coursed through his body. He was ready.

"Swimmers to your mark," said the announcer. "Set..." And the gun sounded.

Percy leaped into the water gracefully, already ahead of everyone. Each stroke held precision and speed. Nobody could beat _the_ Percy Jackson.

By the end of the race, it wasn't a surprise to anyone (despite excessive cheering) that Percy won. The crowd was already wild for Goode High School, but the meet had only begun.

As Percy dried his face with a towel, he peeked over into the stands, and next to Hazel was Annabeth. _Annabeth_. _She came_.

Was it for him? Probably not. Half of the school was here, and they weren't here _just for Percy._ But it didn't stop him from getting a little twinge of joy. _She came_.

After Percy's second race, Reyna was sitting with Annabeth and Hazel. He was surprised she showed, she doesn't usually come out to social events; Not because she's insecure or anything, she just never seemed to enjoy public outings. But here she was. He wondered of her motive for coming.

But nonetheless, he was glad she came.

By the eventual end (and victory) of his third race, Percy had enough time to quickly visit with his friends before his final event.

Except once he arrived to their front-row area in the stands, Annabeth was gone. Why? Was the meet too boring? Did she have homework? Percy decided not to ponder on it.

The rest of the gang continued on with their banter as Percy approached. They all cheered for him once he came into sight. He grinned.

"Awesome job, dude!" Grover exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Frank agreed.

"Thanks," Percy replied with a genuine smile. "I only have like two minutes, so I can't stay long."

The group nodded their heads understandably.

After small conversation, Percy spotted _Rachel_ at the other end of the bleachers. He could _not_ be seen.

"Time's up," he said nervously. "Gotta head back. I'll see you guys after." His quick movements seemed to be shrugged off by his friends as he sped towards the rest of his team.

Percy did not want to associate with Rachel. At all. He composed himself after the initial heartbreak and now he was completely over her. He thought about what she said a week ago... " _I hope things aren't too awkward for us_." How could they not be? And why does she want his forgiveness?

It'd be best to stay apart, anyways- He and Rachel were far too different. She was a master of the arts; Percy could barely draw a stick figure. She wanted to kick back after high school in Hawaii, ditching New York; Percy wanted to get his education and live here for... well forever. She wanted nothing to do with kids; Percy dreamt of a whole, happy family. She craved wild parties on school nights; Percy would rather stay late at McDonald's with all his close friends. You see the point.

Once again, after having to shake worrisome thoughts from his head, Percy claimed victory over his race. It was the final one, and the spectators were already filing out of the building. Unfortunately, waiting for him after the race, was none other than Rachel Dare. Shoot.

"Hey, Percy," she greeted.

"Hey."

"You did great out there."

"Thanks."

Awkward. Very awkward.

Rachel pursed her lips. "So... I was wondering if maybe you wanted to grab some dinner with me tonight? To catch up?"

Percy scrunched his eyebrows together.

What?

"Uh..." He searched through his brain for an excuse. "I think my friends and I are going out. Maybe some other time." Yeah, right.

"Oh. Okay. Bye, then." She waved softly and left.

 _Very, very awkward._

Percy met up with his friends at the entrance after his strange encounter.

"We were thinking about going to Olive Garden," suggested Jason.

Perfect. "Cool. I love Italian."

"I can't go," said Reyna. "I have to finish a huge essay I put off. Great job tonight though, Percy." She waved and then walked away to her car. Percy was a little disappointed- he was hoping to catch up with her. They never seemed to talk anymore.

Once the crowd made it to Olive Garden a good ten minutes later, they shuffled themselves in a large booth after being directed by a hostess.

Percy already knew what he wanted to order as he sat down.

His thoughts raked through his mind as they always did. _Why in the world would Rachel wanna go out with him?_ They're done. He couldn't stop thinking about how weird it was. How _uncomfortable_. Can't she just... leave him alone?

Percy's thoughts trailed as the waitress approached and he grew excited, knowing one of his favorite meals was gonna be served right in front of him soon. What made him squirm in his seat a little bit more though, was... well the waitress.

Those undeniably perfect golden curls couldn't be mistaken for anybody else. That extraordinarily tan skin. The walk. Oh God, the walk.

 _Annabeth Chase._

 _Annabeth Chase is a waitress at Olive Garden?_

Stepping up to the table, he noticed the shock and embarrassment flying across her face. She was _embarrassed_. Annabeth Chase was _embarassed_.

Is this where she went halfway through the swim meet? It must've been.

"Hey!" exclaimed Hazel. "I thought you said you had homework?"

"I wish that were the case," Annabeth muttered through her teeth. Then she turned to Percy. "Hey, good job tonight, Percy. Never got to congratulate you."

Percy nearly jumped from his seat at the mention of his name, but managed to reply. "Oh, thanks. Don't worry about it."

Annabeth cleared her throat. "So, uh, what can I get for you guys to drink?"

Everybody ordered water except for Grover and Percy- they got Coke.

Percy was still surprised by the fact Annabeth worked here. He could tell she was a very prideful person, so to show up at restaurant that nobody knew she worked at (and clearly was ashamed of), completely let her pride crumble. He supposed that this wasn't her first choice and it was for purely money. He knew she had an internship with one of the best architectural companies in the country, which cannot be cheap.

When Annabeth came back with their drinks, Percy was the first one to order his food. He didn't waste any time. After everybody ordered, they handed in the menus to Annabeth and continued with their conversation.

Percy munched consistently on the breadsticks while waiting for his food. He didn't speak much in the conversation, just listened.

The food came out early and the excitement strewn across Grover's face could not be compared. Hazel was very eager for her food too, Percy could see. She was rubbing her hands together as she always did when she was excited.

Annabeth placed each plate in front of everyone and left with a professional smile. Percy had wished she stayed a little longer, though. Thankfully, his disappointment was soon replaced with relief when she returned with her own plate of salad.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"A customer ordered a salad but was given the wrong dressing and the chefs were gonna throw it out. So I took it. Plus I have no other tables to wait."

He nodded understandably. He would've done the exact same thing.

She set down the plate and sat next to Percy. Everyone on that side of the booth was now scrunched together but only Jason seemed to mind.

"Did you ever figure out that chemistry homework?" Annabeth inquired.

"Oh, uh yeah. I don't think I did good on it, though."

Annabeth looked down at her salad for a moment, assessing her thoughts, and turned her gaze back to Percy. "Well, I wanna bring back my offer to help you with your homework. So next time you're struggling, just text me."

Percy smiled a bit at her words. And said playfully, "How can I do that if I don't have your number?" Would he consider that flirting? Could be.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Give me your phone."

"What?"

"So I can put my number in it, duh."

"Oh, right." He dug for his phone in his pockets and finally handed it to the stunning blond right next to him.

She typed away swiftly. After one tap, she held the phone out in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked.

She ignored his question and faced the phone. The camera popped up and she stuck her tongue out playfully. She tapped the camera button to take the picture- now he had a contact picture of her.

He laughed at the photo. "Why that pic?"

She smiled. "Why not?"

Their eyes met for a split second, but each adverted their gaze immediately. Percy felt his cheeks rush with heat, and prayed Annabeth wasn't looking at him.

The entire table engaged in deep conversations after that- some thoughtful, some for a complete joke. All laughs died though when a certain man entered the room.

Annabeth's face fell as she stared up at him from her seat.

 _Luke Castellan_.

 **A/N: Sorry this took literally ten years to upload. Been really busy and not gonna lie, I forgot to write for a couple of weeks. My third chapter is finally up on my Wattpad. If you're eager enough, go check it out. (I keep my Wattpad one chapter ahead).**


	3. Awkward

" _Annabeth_ ," Luke spits coldly.

"Um..." She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Why are you here?"

"Your shift ended ten minutes ago and you hadn't even texted me, so I came to check up on you since you can't be bothered to take some responsibility."

Everyone looked at each other nervously.

Percy's face distorted into a scowl. Luke Castellan was a master in Asshole-ery. How could he speak like that to her? Over practically nothing?

Annabeth scoffed in annoyance. "Sorry I was _with my friends_. I can drive myself home, Luke."

He rolled his eyes. "Did you not just hear a word I said? I was worried about you."

"Your tone sure as hell doesn't support that."

The energy at the table was tense. The situation remained awkward, yet everyone was on edge, especially Percy.

Luke's nostrils flared. "Let's go, Annabeth."

 _Demanding. Rude. Possessive._

Percy had seen this very behavior before with his own eyes. With his _abusive step-father_. Percy flooded with worry... But there was no way. The golden boy at school couldn't be such an awful human.

But the thoughts wouldn't leave Percy's mind. If he could ever prevent it from happening to anybody else, he would.

As Annabeth was about to open her mouth again, Percy spoke instead.

"And where do you go around speaking to her like that?" he inquired. His words spiked with sass and challenge.

Percy loved a good challenge.

"And where do you go around speaking to me like that? Stay out of this, _Jackson_."

"No, really. I wanna know." He crossed his arms and leaned back. Percy knew the perfect times to be an ass.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered, and shook her head. A warning.

But Percy didn't care.

Luke's fists clenched as his apparent anger rose. "Jackson, you are _really_ pushing it."

Percy smirked devilishly. "Good to know. Still haven't gotten my answer though."

"Percy, stop. There's no reason to fight; I'll go," Annabeth said. She clearly didn't _want_ to go, but she also clearly didn't want Percy picking a fight.

He stared into her wondrously gray eyes for a moment before nodding. She smiled gravely and got up from her seat.

As the couple was turning to leave the restaurant, Percy spoke some final words. "Hey, Luke!" he called out.

Luke turned halfway and looked at Percy awaiting what he had to say.

"You're an asshat."

With those three simple words, Luke's rage boiled up inside him and completely sent him over the edge. He came racing towards Percy, but he was prepared. As Luke's fist came swinging at Percy's face, Percy swiftly ducked and grabbed his fist. He pushed Luke back which left him stumbling.

What? You didn't think Percy only knew how to swim, did you?

"Try it again," Percy challenged. His face no longer resembled a mischievous boy, but rather someone completely pissed the fuck off.

Annabeth sprinted in between the two boys. "What the hell, Luke?!" Her face was red-hot with fury.

"He started it, Annabeth." He pointed a blaming finger at Percy while he was still trying to catch his breath from his adrenaline rush.

Percy held his hands up in defense. He expected Luke to react with aggression- he'd been taunting him just so he could piss him off. But now _Percy_ was pissed off too.

This encounter proved two things: Luke is aggressive and doesn't handle anger well. But Annabeth didn't seem to expect that type of reaction... Which brings back to the original question: Is Luke is some way... abusive?

"We're leaving," Annabeth demanded as she dragged Luke by the arm and out of Olive Garden.

Grover looked around puzzled and astonished. "Okay... I'll say it. What the _literal_ fuck just happened?"

After that night, Percy and Annabeth didn't speak much. They exchanged few words during second period, and that was it. The number sitting in his phone with that silly picture, seemed to be forgotten.

Sure, Percy wanted to talk to her. A lot, actually. But interfering with Luke was going to cause problems nobody needed. Although distancing himself, Percy still kept a close eye on Annabeth because of his recent suspicions. Nothing caught his eye though.

But now, he sat on his couch at home, munching on leftover pizza while watching _The Office_ on Netflix; One of his favorite pastimes, truly. His mom was out at work- She was a publisher, and in her free time, an author. His step-dad, Paul, worked at the high school but he always stayed late.

Percy would normally be at swim practice right now, but Coach had an emergency, so now he had a whole free two hours. Luckily, he had just about no homework... Except for chemistry. Mr. Harper just _didn't_ know when to stop handing out assignments.

Percy planned on procrastinating, obviously. So for now, he would enjoy himself in junk food and TV.

Until his phone started blowing up with messages.

 **Leo: perce wanna come to the movues tonight**

 **Leo: movies* sorry**

 **Leo: hey, u suck at texting back**

 **Leo: helloooo its been like 7 minutes**

 **Leo: P ER CY**

 **Percy: sorry i was watching netflix lol**

 **Leo: well get ur ass up bc im almost at ur house**

 **Percy: what**

 **Leo: i said we're going to the movies**

 **Percy: okay.. whos driving**

 **Leo: jason**

 **Percy: good. u driving is a complete disaster**

 **Leo: ok chlorine head bye**

Percy chuckled as he set his phone back down onto the table. He clicked off the TV and went to go get ready (which meant touching up his hair and throwing on some shoes).

Soon, Leo was furiously texting Percy to "get ur ass down here" as he sat in Jason's car outside the building.

The ride to the theaters was awful; Percy sat in the back, annoyed out of his mind, as Leo sang off-key to every song that came on and Jason was driving _way_ too far under the speed limit.

Once they arrived to the theater and bought their tickets, all was going well until they sat right in front of _her_.

 _Rachel Dare_.

Percy was praying she didn't notice, that maybe she was too busy on her phone or talking to the friend beside her. He scoured around the theater to see if there were any more seats, but _Thor: Ragnarok_ was getting real popular real fast.

He nonchalantly leaned over to Jason and whispered, "Rachel is _right behind us_."

Jason chuckled.

"This isn't funny!" Percy scolded, still in a whisper.

"Yeah it is."

Percy rolled his eyes and turned facing frontward again.

He couldn't believe this. What are the odds? And why does he keep getting seats right in front of her? Did the world want to tease him like this?

Percy sat lazily in his chair, hoping his head could no longer be seen from the row above.

Leo turned to the black-haired boy. "What are you doing?"

Percy's eyebrows cocked. "Huh?"

"Why are you sitting like... _that_?" Leo gestured frantically to Percy.

Percy sighed heavily and motioned for Leo to come closer. "Rachel's behind us," he whispered.

Leo started giggling, but held his hand over his mouth.

"Why does everybody think this is funny?!"

This situation was _not_ funny. Percy just wanted to go out with friends and have a good time, yet _this_ is out it turned out.

Still slumped in the chair, Percy munched on popcorn as he sat in silent anger.

As the movie went on, the continuous humor seemed to melt away Percy's anxiety. Soon the popcorn was gone while Leo and Jason only had two handfuls.

The movie ended and a weight was lifted from Percy's shoulders. He was so relieved Rachel hadn't noticed him- or if she had, she didn't bother him.

But right as the weight lifted, it came crashing down again. Honestly, Percy has the worst luck. Rachel caught his eye as he was exiting the theater. And much to his disappointment... she approached him.

"Hey, Percy," she greeted with a grin.

"Uh, hey." _Can she go now?_

"How'd you like the movie? I thought it was awesome."

"Uh, yeah it was pretty good."

She nodded her head and stuck between them was stiff, awkward silence. Rachel decided to break the ice after a minute or so. "So, how've you been?"

Percy shrugged his shoulders. "Good." The conversation made him want to _die_.

"Yeah..."

Again was the awkward silence. Percy's hands laid in his pockets as his looked around to avoid Rachel's gaze.

Out of nowhere, Rachel leaned up, placed her hands on Percy's neck, and smashed her lips into his. He was so taken aback, he stumbled backwards and tripped over his feet- luckily, he didn't fall.

"What the hell?!" He demanded.

"What? I thought we were like... having a moment." Percy couldn't tell if she was lying or not, to be honest.

"Well we _weren't_. At _all_." He straightened out his clothes and let out a deep breath. "Why would you even _want_ to kiss me, Rachel? We're over. I thought I made that clear." His look was stern.

Her face fell a little. "Oh. I just... felt something, I guess."

Percy had zero idea as to how she thought they were having a moment or how there was even something to feel. Did she mistaken awkward tension for sexual tension? How does someone mix that up?

"There's nothing, Rachel. Clearly you need to sort out whatever feelings you still have for us." Percy began walking away. "I gotta go."

So much for a fun night out with friends.

Percy walked inside his home to find no one was there. He concluded that Sally and Paul went out, which was no problem.

He slumped onto his fluffy, blue bed. The day was going fine until tonight, and now he's exhausted. Remembering he had chem homework, he groaned loudly and slid onto the floor and began rummaging through his backpack.

He took one look and knew he couldn't do all of it by himself. Another groan.

And then an idea popped into his head: He could text Annabeth for help; They hadn't spoken in a while and now felt like the right time.

 **Percy: hey annabeth... could u maybe help me on my chem hw?**

Percy sat anxiously, waiting for a reply.

 **Annabeth: sure :)**

 **Percy: thank u!! i'll send u pics now**

 **Annabeth: u can just facetime me lol. it'll be a lot easier**

 **Percy: oh yeah haha**

Percy wasn't expecting that response, but nonetheless, he switched over to the FaceTime app and called Annabeth. He waited for only two seconds and suddenly her _gorgeous_ face appeared on his screen. She was sitting at a desk, and seemed to be doing homework as well.

"Oh!" Percy exclaimed. "If you're busy right now I can-"

"No! No, I'm almost done. It's just some easy physics stuff."

 _Easy physics stuff?_ Easy and physics do _not_ go together.

"Oh, okay." Percy held up his homework so Annabeth could see. "I just don't get how a valence electron-"

Annabeth laughed.

"Are you making fun of me?" Percy teased. A smile started cracking from his face too.

"I'm sorry," she said between laughter. "Percy I learned this stuff freshman year!"

Now Percy was laughing too. _Freshman year?_

"Hey! Not everybody can be as smart as you, Wise Girl."

Annabeth looked confused, with her eyebrow cocked. "Wise Girl?" And that teasing tone was back.

Percy knew it sounded stupid. It just came flying out of his mouth. _Wise Girl? Really?_ Of all the names, he said _Wise Girl?_

"I don't know, it kinda just... came out." A chuckle ensued.

Annabeth contemplated for a second. "I kinda like it."

They shared smiles. Although looking at each other through a couple of phones, Percy felt a connection. Like a bond was growing, out of nowhere. _Why did I wait so long to talk to her again?_ Percy truly felt like he could be himself around her, like he didn't have to try, and no matter what, she'd still understand him. Obviously she made fun of him a lot, but can you blame her? It's nothing but playful teasing, but that's what makes their relationship even stronger.

 _ **Monday, 4th week of school**_

Percy was making his way to 7th period chemistry (praying that the studying with Annabeth helped), when Charles Beckendorf came up behind him.

"Hey, man!" he greeted. Percy jumped slightly.

"Hey, Beckendorf. What's up?" Why was he approaching Percy anyway? They don't really talk.

Beckendorf frowned. "I expected you to be a little happier."

Percy scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

"You know... Friday night..." He looked almost giddy.

"Friday night..?"

Beckendorf punched Percy's arm playfully and gleamed, "You and Rachel are back together, dude!"

Percy stopped in his tracks.

"I'm sorry- What?"

"C'mon! I saw you two kissing!"

Percy grew infuriated. But he managed to keep his cool enough. "Rachel and I are not back together. _She_ kissed _me_. I want nothing to do with her."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

"I kind of told everyone at my lunch table that y'all were kicking it again..."

Steam seemed blow from Percy's ears. He wants zero association with Rachel, especially after the stunt she pulled at the movies. He couldn't muster up enough words to express his immediate anger, so he just stormed off, leaving Beckendorf in the middle of the hallway.

Seventh period was already bad enough due to sitting right in front of Rachel. But now he had a boiling type of anger from not only Friday, but just now. Luckily, the red head didn't say a word to him; He guessed she was too embarrassed.

Relief washed over Percy when the bell rang, knowing his next period was athletics and he could actually blow off some steam- He definitely needed it.

Once changed into gym-wear into the weight-room, his mind started to calm down. Thankfully, Monday's were free days, which meant every athlete who had eighth period athletics got their own choice of how they wanted to work out. Percy spotted an open punching bag, and decided that was just what he needed right now.

Sweat trickled down his forehead after each blow he threw at the punching bag. His knuckles were numb and his lungs grasping for air, but he continued on. Every angering thought flowed through body and out with a single punch.

He was in a zone.

...Until a finger tapping his shoulder interrupted him.

He spun around, to find a pair of fierce gray eyes staring up at him. _Annabeth_.

She smiled. "Hey."

He mirrored the smile. "Hey."

"You were looking a little intense over there," she teased. "Almost brooding."

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess."

"So..." She elbowed him playfully. "I hear you and the ginger are back together!"

Percy ground his teeth. This time fortunately though, he didn't burst into hot flames- He handled his emotions. "That's actually, not right."

"What do you mean?"

Percy looked around for a second. "The coaches will get mad if we're not working out. Let's go to the track and talk there." Annabeth nodded in agreement.

As they stepped onto the track surrounding the football field, Percy asked, "Wait, why are _you_ out here?"

"I'm in girls' track and field, Seaweed Brain."

Oh yeah. But that nickname caught him off guard. "Seaweed Brain?"

"Yeah, 'cause I'm tired of calling you a moron. And you're a swimmer," she explained.

"Oh." Percy laughed. "That's kinda a weird name, ya know."

"And _Wise Girl_ , isn't?"

"Touché."

"Okay stop trying to avoid my question. What's going on between you and Rachel?"

The two continued jogging on the track.

"She kissed me at the movies, but I didn't want her to." Annabeth intently listened to Percy. "She keeps missing the hints that I don't have feelings for her anymore."

Annabeth contemplated Percy's words, then responded, "What did you say after she kissed you?"

"I told her we're over."

"So you made it absolutely clear this time?"

"Absolutely."

"Good."

Percy took a deep breath. God, did he really want to let everything out. "Ugh, sometimes I just wish her and I never-"

And then the bell rang, signaling school had ended.

The two stopped jogging and Annabeth looked up at him. "We can continue this chat-"

"Yeah, I'll call you."

"Actually, I was gonna say you could come over to my house tonight," she corrected. "If that's okay with you, of course."

 _Huh?_ "Is that okay with _Luke?_ "

She rolled her eyes. "Probably not. But I don't care; He and I haven't been seeing eye to eye with everything lately."

"Do you wanna... talk about it?" Is this connected to what Percy predicted earlier?

"No, no, we don't really have the time anyway. I gotta get to practice as I'm sure you do too."

"Yup. I'll see you later then."

They both smiled.

And _God_ was her smile a sight to see.

 **A/N: sorry this chapter was kinda sucky lol (next chapter will be coming out really soon!! it will be in sync with my Wattpad, meaning right now, there are no additional chapters on my Wattpad. xx)**


	4. Initiate

**Last warning!! If you can't handle sexual situations (not explicit), then please stopreading**

After some only _slightly_ excruciating swim practice and a short shift at the waterpark (which nobody even goes to anymore), Percy went home and took a shower. A quick one though, because he still wanted to at least stop by Annabeth's house.

 **Percy: imma come over tonight. fuck hw**

 **Annabeth: percy if u have hw to do then dont come over i'll feel bad**

 **Percy: i hardly do hw anyways**

 **Percy: so whats ur address**

 **Annabeth: whateverrrr**

 **Annabeth: 551 roundway**

 **Percy: kk. see ya in a bit**

 **Annabeth: bye**

Percy's hair was still damp when he shut the car door behind him. He put the keys in the ignition, and drove off to 551 Roundway.

The neighborhood was actually pretty nice. And when pulling up to her house, he noticed there was only one car in the driveway. He stepped out and reached the front door, knocking.

A couple seconds later, Percy heard the locks turn and soon, it swung open to show that _beautiful_ smile looking right at him.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey."

"Come on in." She stepped to the side to make way for the black-haired boy.

The house was well put together. Percy suspected her parents to be neat freaks or something. But what really caught his eye was the big, blue armchair; boy, was it a beauty. He really wished he could take a nap there, but he figured now wouldn't be an appropriate time.

"So..." Annabeth said, pulling Percy out of his trance. "Let's go to my room. I don't really like lounging around the rest of the house."

Percy understood; he used to be that way until his mom took the TV from his room and banned snacks anywhere but the kitchen.

He followed Annabeth upstairs and into a room down a rather long hallway. When she pushed the door open, he was surprised to find her room almost a complete contrast from the rest of the house. A desk in the corner was strewn with various notebooks, notepads, textbooks, and a laptop that wasn't even shut all the way. He spotted only one shirt on the floor, but he could see shoes were thrown lazily in her cracked-open closet. Several things were hung up on the wall, like a calendar (that was stuck on April?), mini-posters of people he didn't know, _many_ photos of Annabeth with her friends, and random sticky notes here and there which were probably set as reminders.

"I tried to clean up a _little_..." Annabeth said nervously. "At least my bed is made," she reassured with a giddy grin. Percy reciprocated with a laugh, and hopped onto her plush, white bed.

"So... What do you wanna do?" he asked.

"I thought you needed to rant and just... relax for a bit?"

He shook his head lightly. "Nah, I'm not really in a rant-y mood right now. Relaxing sounds nice, though."

Again she smiled, and got onto the bed next to him. They both laid with their backs against the pillows and their legs spread out. Comfy.

"We can watch Netflix on my TV," she suggested.

Percy noticed the TV hanging on the wall in front of her bed. He grew a little jealous.

"Sure. What do you wanna watch?"

"I was kind of thinking about watching a little bit of _Friends_?"

"Ooh, I love _Friends_. Let's do that."

A grin appeared on her face as if an idea popped into her mind. "I just remembered we have popcorn! I'm gonna go make some! Be right back."

Percy couldn't help but smile at her excitement. Like she's been waiting to do this all day.

He decided in the meantime, he'd text Grover.

 **Percy: guess where i'm at**

 **Grover: hopefully not right outside my house**

 **Percy: no [rolling eye emoji]**

 **Percy: annabeth's**

 **Grover: bruh what**

 **Percy: yeah. she invited me over. it's not TOO awkward**

 **Grover: aye that's good**

 **Grover: try and keep it in ur pants**

Percy snorted out loud.

 **Percy: thanks**

 **Percy: how have u and juniper been?**

 **Grover: it's basically the same**

 **Percy: :(**

 **Grover: don't worry. i feel the courage to ask her out grow every single day**

 **Percy: sure**

 **Grover: [rolling eye emoji] gn**

 **Percy: gn**

As Percy set his phone back down, Annabeth walked back in with a big bucket of buttery popcorn in her hands. She leapt onto the bed, letting a bunch of popcorn fly everywhere. They both giggled.

She clicked on a random episode of _Friends_ as the two of them relaxed on their respective sides of the bed, munching on popcorn.

As the show played on the screen, Percy started thinking about what he was going to tell Annabeth earlier. He still wanted to tell her. Badly. About halfway into the episode, he said, "Sometimes I wish Rachel and I had never met. That's what I was going to say earlier." He avoided eye contact and kept his head locked toward the TV.

"Oh," she said quietly. The room was dark- the only light came from the TV and the moon shining through the window, illuminating the popcorn and a few features on their faces.

"I mean, yeah, our relationship was nice sometimes, but a lot of problems came with it." He was prepared to let it all out.

"Like what?"

Their heads refused to turn and look at each other.

"She was always jealous. And not the normal way. She restricted me from doing stuff like talking to other girls- even Hazel. I didn't listen, though. Whenever she'd find out I'd been speaking to another girl, she'd get crazy- call me all sorts of nasty names, say I was unloyal to her. It got really frustrating."

"I bet it was... I never knew she was like that."

"Yeah. I dealt with it though, because I thought that I really liked her. And she liked me back so that's all that mattered."

There was an awkward silence.

"I'm glad you found your way out."

Percy chuckled. "I didn't really. _She_ was the one that dropped me. And I'm still not really sure why."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm happier without her."

Another awkward silence.

"I have... something I wanna get off my chest too."

"I'm all ears."

He saw Annabeth get up and turn off the TV with the remote. The room was in almost complete darkness. Percy could tell she was sitting on the bed now though, instead of laying down, so he sat up to face her- although he couldn't really see her.

"God, I don't know how to say this... You'll probably think I'm a terrible person or something." Percy could tell she was growing anxious.

"Don't worry... Just tell me."

She grunted in frustration. "I'm already embarrassed and I haven't even said it!"

"It's okay... You don't _have_ to tell me," he reassured calmingly.

"No, no... I want to. Okay I'm just- I'm just gonna say it. Rip the bandaid off." She paused. "I'm _really_... sexually frustrated."

That definitely took Percy by surprise. "Come again?"

"Please don't make me say it again! I really wanna talk about this and I know you're thinking ' _Why doesn't she talk about this with Piper or Thalia?'_ and you'll understand why in a second but I just really need to get this off my chest and oh my god I'm rambling agai-"

Percy reached out and grabbed onto her wrists gently. "It's okay. Let it out." He was definitely curious as to what she had to say.

She took a deep breath. "I don't want things to be awkward between us. Well I guess I already caused that but-"

"Annabeth, I don't feel awkward." Maybe a little, but he wasn't going to say that.

Another deep breath ensued. "Okay so... I'm pretty sure like the entire school already knows this but yeah Luke and I are sexually active and we have been for a while... Don't worry we use all sorts of protection, but lately every time we have sex nothing works. I haven't actually orgasmed the past _eleven_ times we've had sex. Oh my god I sound disgusting, don't I? Saying it out loud makes me sound like the horniest person alive-"

"Annabeth, it's fine. You're fine. Keep going." Yeah, Percy was a little uncomfortable. But he wanted to be there for her, and truth be told, the conversation didn't bother him that much. He understood why she was hesitant- nobody wants to be judged for that.

"You know how once you have sex, your sex drive tends to go through the roof?"

Percy nodded. No, he's not a virgin.

"Well, having sex and not being able to climax is so frustrating. Especially if my sex drive is really high. And honestly, most of the reason why we do it is to relieve stress... but not actually orgasming makes me even more stressed! I'm already like a naturally stressed person, so this just adds on even more. And I don't know what's happening! Sex with Luke used to be good and now I can't stand it. But I don't wanna disappoint him, ya know?"

Percy nodded.

"I've tried _everything_. I don't really want to go into detail on that part so I'll just leave it to you to figure out what I mean. It just doesn't make sense- I've always been the type of girl that's able to get off easily! With this and all of my other problems that I don't wish to talk about right now, life is just so... _ugh_. I even considered smoking weed."

Percy was unfortunately unable to relate with Annabeth. He couldn't understand what it's like to not be able to get off- guys just had it easier that way.

He still held onto her wrists as she remained on edge. He thought she was about to cry for a second, but luckily she didn't.

"And I've been thinking about what I'm about to say for a while now. Two weeks, actually. I hate myself for even contemplating it or thinking it was an option in the first place. But I just... I really need something to feel good."

Percy scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "You're not making sense."

She hesitated. "Like I said, I've been thinking about it, and I've decided, _you're_ my solution."

He let the words sink in. "Are you saying...?"

"Yeah. And I know it's technically cheating and completely wrong and I know I sound like the _most_ horrible person on the plant and Luke would be pissed if he ever found out and-"

"Annabeth. Calm down."

Silence washed over them, and through the blackness, he searched her eyes.

"I know that it's not right, Percy. But I mean... I'm not wanting to kiss you and fall in love with you I'm just... Asking for this. And obviously I still wanna be your friend."

"Are you sure? It's not something you can take back."

"I'm positive."

The silence came back. Percy moved his hands from her wrists and into her own hands. And suddenly, he pulled her towards him, almost aggressively, and attached his lips onto her neck.

 **If you wish to read the more adult part after this (if you're into that), you can read _Initiated,_ posted in my stories!**

 **Just a reminder that Annabeth has sex as much as she does because it's her way to cope with her excessive stress. Don't worry 'bout her- she's smart.**


	5. Last Night

**I really wanna respond to all the reviews I have so I'm gonna put this list up. If you commented something like "love it. please write more!" I won't be directly responding because it's a smaller and more common message but I do want to thank everybody who says they love this story! It means a lot. :)**

 **Feel free to skip all of this! x**

 **(I know some of these are realllyyyy old. Sorry :( )**

 **•StellaAthena36: Thank you! I grew tired of seeing fics where Percy's this sex god/bad boy that all the girls fall for. Decided to change it up :)**

 **•Alech14: Yeah, me too! Just like I said in the previous response , I never understood why people always made Annabeth the nerd/loser. She's too badass for that lol**

 **•Artemisbow510: Hopefully I accomplished that in the last few chapters!**

 **•Sycreria: It's all about the build up buddy**

 **•theoneisBEST: That's awesome. Let's me know I'm doing something right ;)**

 ** _On Initiated:_**

 **Sammyd12: Yeah, I noticed even before I published it that it could've been way better. That was my first time writing that type of stuff so I just said screw it and hit the publish button anyway lol. Thank you for the constructive criticism though! It does mean a lot to me.**

 **Ending of _Initiated_ , my adult chapter, right after _Initiate_ (not explicit! kinda important)**

They both sat there, panting, with Annabeth in his lap and head on his shoulder.

"That was... amazing," Annabeth said.

"Glad I could help," Percy replied jokingly.

Annabeth laughed softly.

"Thank you." Her voice turned more serious.

"My pleasure. Literally."

Another laugh from the golden-haired girl.

"I'm serious, Percy."

"I know," he said reassuringly.

They caught each other's eyes- green meeting gray. Their faces were so close. So close. Their noses were touching and the lips just two inches apart. Percy's eyes drifted downwards, lips parting. Then Annabeth cleared her throat and sat up.

"Um, you can stay over, if you want."

"I probably shouldn't- my mom would worry."

"Right," she nodded her head and fell back on the bed.

Percy got up to put all his clothes back on.

"See you at school tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah."

He gave a little smile right before walking out.

Annabeth's mind raced. _What did I just do?_

 _ **(Annabeth and Percy still haven't kissed yet. Throughout their time that night, they didn't share a single kiss lip to lip because Percy felt that would've been crossing a whole different line.)**_

 _ **(Disclaimer: The ages in this don't correlate with the actual books) —**_

 **Annabeth's POV**

Tuesday, September 12

Annabeth entered the courtyard with her backpack upon her shoulder and and hot coffee in her hand.

She had a feeling of uneasiness in her gut. She didn't want to face Luke today... but she reminded herself that she _had_ to, because last night is, and always will be, in the past.

She tried so hard convincing herself nothing was wrong. She didn't want to accept it.

On the bright side, she was rather... _relaxed_. No matter what negative thoughts passed through her mind, ease washed them away eventually. Her stress levels had definitely gone down since last night, and for that she was grateful.

Annabeth approached Piper who was sitting at a table with Jason.

"Hey," Piper greeted sweetly. "Where's Luke?" Annabeth normally hung out with Luke before the first bell of school.

"He hasn't come yet. I think he overslept."

Jason looked between the two girls. "I'll... be with Leo. Bye, Pipes." He kissed her on the cheek and headed off to find the mischievous curly headed boy.

Annabeth sat right in front of Piper.

Realization hit Annabeth. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be doing cheer captain shit in the morning?"

(They always casually swore around each other.)

"No, it's Tuesday. We never have practice on Tuesdays," she said in a manner that was like _come-on-Annabeth-keep-up_.

"Right."

"I'm glad you actually came over here, though. I gotta tell you something."

Annabeth grew intrigued. "Spill."

"Okay so, you know how Leo's birthday is on the second of October?" **(A/N: I totally made that up.)**

Annabeth nodded, taking a sip of her morning coffee.

"Well..." Piper continued, all too excitedly, "my dad and I are throwing him a surprise party on the weekend before!"

"Really?! I've never been to a surprise party before."

"Me neither but my dad said he wanted to do something special for Leo, and I thought this was the most _Leo_ idea."

"Can't argue with that."

They both chuckled.

"Obviously, you're invited. Basically anybody is invited actually. We wanna have a huge party."

"Leo will definitely love that."

The morning breeze flew by and threw Piper's hair out of place, but she hastily readjusted it, tucking a couple strands behind her ear.

"I need you to invite everybody you can. Especially Frank and Percy since you have classes with them."

"You have a class with Percy too," Annabeth pointed out.

"Yeah, but you sit right next to him in history, right?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said, defeatedly.

"Then there you go! Try and keep it discreet, though."

"Well, duh."

Piper rolled her eyes. Then, a sense of panic entered her bright hazel-y irises. "You have mascara on the side of your face!"

A true friend.

"Where?!"

Piper motioned for Annabeth to lean in closer. She took her thumb and wiped at the black streak.

As Piper worked delicately to get all the black off, Annabeth started thinking about how ironic it was that Piper had such a high skill in the cosmetic field, but never wore makeup and hardly styled her hair (although she added a couple braids here and there). Her potential to be the most wanted stylist was astounding, truly.

Right after the mascara was removed, the bell sounded throughout the campus and the two girls hurriedly grabbed their things and headed their respective ways. Piper's shimmery red and white cheer bag bulged as she walked to the athletic wing.

Right as Annabeth turned, she was startled by somebody's presence. Luke.

"Hey, babe." He smiled.

She smiled back and locked her fingers with his. "Hey."

He leaned down to give her a quick peck on the lips.

Annabeth's guilt came rushing back. She shouldn't be kissing him. He doesn't deserve this.

But she kept up the facade- no need to start something she's not prepared to handle right now.

"Why so late?" she inquired.

"Overslept."

So she thought.

"C'mon," he said, tugging at her arm like a little kid. "Mr. Wetz will kill me if I'm late for statistics again."

She laughed at his childlike behavior and eventually stumbled after him.

Annabeth's first period was luckily Architecture, so it was just down the hall from Luke's class.

After Mr. Johnson assigned a two-page essay and the bell rung, Annabeth met up with Luke again. They did this everyday- walk together to first period, then he would walk her to her homeroom class. They normally wouldn't see each other again until lunch.

Once the couple reached Mr. Brunner's room, they kissed each other goodbye and she headed inside.

Not many people had arrived yet, but she spotted Thalia sitting at a table, so she joined her. Annabeth wasn't really sure how she got there on time, but she decided not to question it.

"Hey, nerd," Thalia greeted. So lovely.

"Hey, motherfucker."

Thalia smirked.

"So," Annabeth continued, mirroring Thalia's smirk, "how did you get here so early? And why?"

She shrugged. "Reasons."

"That's... vague," Annabeth replied quizzically.

Thalia just waved it off. "Don't worry about it."

Just as Annabeth was about to respond, a nude colored Jansport backpack was dropped onto the table dramatically. The two looked up and found Piper completely out of breath and her cheeks flushed red.

Annabeth looked at her in disgust. "What happened to _you_?"

Piper huffed. "Coach Russo let us out a whole _minute after_ the bell. It's like she forgets we still have school after cheer class." She rolled her eyes angrily and finally sat down.

Annabeth and Thalia gave Piper her space and didn't speak anymore.

Then the tardy bell rung.

 _She barely made it_ , Annabeth thought to herself.

"Late!"

She heard Mr. Brunner's voice boom throughout the room and turned in her seat to see who his victim was today.

"Mr. Jackson, Mr. Valdez, and... Mr. _Grace_? I expected better from you. Get to your seats immediately. Take this as a warning."

A collective sigh resulted from the group of boys before they hurried off to the empty table in the corner.

Annabeth couldn't bare to look at Percy any longer- the guilt was eating her alive. She turned back in her seat, facing Thalia once again.

Thalia looked at Annabeth attentively, sending a message: _Are you okay?_

Annabeth breathed in and gave a little nod. She knew Thalia could read her expression like a book. Obviously Annabeth wasn't okay- but she would be.

As the period went by, Annabeth spent her time doing calculus homework that wasn't due for another three days. Thalia pretended to read while on her phone, and Piper kept her head rested in her arms on the table- she might've even fallen asleep.

Once the highly anticipated bell rang and Annabeth was already out the door, somebody approached her.

Percy.

"Um, hi," he said awkwardly.

Annabeth took a deep breath. She dreaded this moment, _so_ much. But she knew it was going to come eventually.

"Hey."

"We're still... cool, right?"

"Of course." She gave a quick smile.

"I don't... suppose... you ever wanna talk about it, right?"

She nodded her head slowly. "Um, yeah. It would just be for the best, I think."

"Right."

She turned her head to look at him and immediately regretted it. She could hardly see him the way she did before... _last night._

As he walked beside her, she couldn't help but see the body underneath all those clothes. And the way that it moved... and touched her... And _oh_ , the way those lips moved across her skin. They had no shame.

And how could she not admire the hair? Somehow, it appeared the same as it did last night: tousled in every which way, as if her hand had just been running through it.

She saw him as... _hot_.

 _Stop, Annabeth,_ she told herself. _You need to stop. Luke doesn't deserve this. And Percy doesn't deserve to be lead on. Stop thinking about it. Just stop thinking about it._

Annabeth felt her breaths become quicker and her heart racing.

 _Not now._

She gulped and attempted to steady her breathing. She felt her palms grow sweaty. Her mind just... wouldn't _shut up._

Anxiety was never fun.

"H-hold on... for a sec..." she told Percy as she drifted towards the side of the hallway and braced herself on the wall.

Percy's cool stride quickly came to a halt. "Are you okay?" He came racing towards her.

"Yeah, I just... Anxiety, ya know. Used to it. No need to worry." She waved her hand around lazily as her breaths heaved in between words.

It was the truth though- Annabeth got anxiety attacks rather frequently. She knew it wasn't a good thing, but she also knew it wouldn't kill her. So, hence, _no need to worry_.

Percy nodded his head understandably, as if he knew exactly what she was talking about. Does he have anxiety too?

"Do you um... Need some space?" he asked cautiously.

"It's fine. Really, I'm fine. Just give it a minute to calm down." Her breathing was much slower as she concentrated on easing herself.

After about a minute of Annabeth controlling herself and Percy standing close by with that worry plastered on his face, they continued on walking to history together.

"There's something I need to tell you," Annabeth mentioned.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, you know Piper, right?"

"Of course I do. Jason ditches me a lot to hang out with her."

Annabeth gave a little laugh. "Well, she's throwing a surprise party for Leo the weekend right before his birthday. She wanted me to invite you. And I'm pretty sure you're allowed to invite anybody else you want- she wants a huge party for him," she explained.

"Oh, cool. That's really awesome of her."

"Yeah, it is."

"Tell her I'll definitely be there." He gave a smile right before the two of them entered Mr. Bishop's classroom.

Later that day during seventh period world lit, Annabeth took her rightful seat next to Piper.

"Hey chica," Piper grinned.

"You sure look a lot better from earlier."

She rolled her eyes. "I wanna go to the volleyball game on Thursday. Come with me."

"Demanding," Annabeth joked.

Piper laughed. "Come on! We're going against Judson High. You know they're our biggest competition."

"Actually, I don't know. I don't know anything about volleyball."

As more words were about to come from Piper's mouth, someone else spoke.

"You should definitely come." Annabeth and Piper turned to see a girl with silky chocolate hair and stunning long lashes looking at them.

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.

Or just easier known as, Reyna Arellano.

"And why's that?" Annabeth challenged playfully.

"Because," Reyna smirked, "Judson High is our biggest competition. Just like she said," she pointed to Piper. "It's our biggest game. You wouldn't wanna miss it- especially _senior year._ "

Annabeth pondered. Would she rather stay at home curled up in her bed like a hermit for yet another night, or go to a seemingly fun volleyball game? Yeah, that wasn't so hard to decide.

"Alright," Annabeth caved. "I'll go." She gave a light smile to Reyna, who returned it.

"Yes!" Piper said happily. "Thank you, Reyna!"

"You're welcome..." She gestured for her name.

"Piper."

"Piper." Then she looked at Annabeth. "And you?"

"Annabeth."

"Awesome. I'll look for the two of you Thursday night."

Annabeth came home and was surprised to find her father in the kitchen. He normally didn't come home til around nine o'clock every night.

"Hey dad," she said dryly. She set her backpack and keys on the large kitchen island while setting her athletic bag on the floor.

"Hi. You know that stuff doesn't belong there." His dirty blond hair was trimmed neatly, as usual. His glasses were sliding down the bridge of his nose as he searched through a cookbook.

"Yeah, I'll move it." She headed towards the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. "Why are you home so early?"

Still not looking up from his page, he said, "Work didn't need me to stay very long. It was a slow day." After a couple beats, his eyes flickered and noticed Annabeth's things were still strewed around. "I thought I told you to move that."

"Yes, and I said that I'd move it. I'm just grabbing water and I'll be out of your hair." She rolled her eyes behind his back.

"Water? You mean the water bottles in the fridge? No. Put it back."

"Uh, what?" Her hand was already grasping a chilled bottle and the refrigerator door had been shut.

"I said put it back, Annabeth. Your brother needs it for soccer practice." His voice was stern.

"Can't he just take-"

"I said put it back!"

Her fierce gray eyes widened. Why was he getting so upset? Jeez.

She reluctantly placed the water bottle back in the fridge. She was going to ask her father what was for dinner since he seemed so focused on that cookbook, but decided she probably shouldn't, and took herself upstairs along with all of her bags.

As she positioned herself on her oh-so-comfy bed, her phone buzzed.

 **Luke: hey babe**

 **Annabeth: hi**

 **Luke: I just got a good idea for a date. does thursday work?**

Volleyball game.

 **Annabeth: no, I'm sorry :( I already made plans with Piper**

 **Luke: oh ok. another time then**

 **Annabeth: definitely. love you**

 **Luke: love you too**

Annabeth hated how short their texts always were. It was like he had zero idea as to how you hold a conversation through a phone. Sometimes Annabeth really needed him but wasn't able to reach him in person, but he always kept it short and dry through text. Sure, her replies never really helped, but she couldn't help it. Sometimes "wyd" just drained the life out of the conversation.

Annabeth heard a loud shut of a door come from downstairs.

She got up to investigate, and saw that her father left without a word. She wasn't surprised- why would he wanna stay at home cooking on his extra hours?

She jogged downstairs and saw the cookbook still open. It was like her dad just said " _Screw it_ " and left to go wherever. She didn't understand it, but she accepted it.

Annabeth supposed she would be making dinner for herself again. She wasn't the _best_ cook, but she was good enough- she had a lot of practice.

 _I guess this will be another long night._

 _ **Thursday, September 14**_

 **Annabeth's POV**

Annabeth waited outside of Piper's house in her car. Piper was running late... _again_. She said she'd be ready in three minutes eleven minutes ago. Annabeth expected it, though.

But soon, Piper came hustling out her front door with only one shoe on while she scrambled to manage her wallet and phone in her hands. Locking her door took another whole minute, but she eventually made it to Annabeth's passenger seat.

"New record," Annabeth joked.

"Sorry," Piper said out of breath, "I had to clean my bathroom for tonight. It was awful." Annabeth planned on spending the night at Piper's after the volleyball game, and Piper knew Annabeth couldn't stand Piper's messy bathroom (even though her own bedroom was just as bad).

Annabeth rolled her eyes playfully and put her keys into the ignition.

"Do we know anybody else that's going?" Piper asked, putting her other shoe on.

"Not that I know of."

"Well I hope a lot of people show. Dead crowds are the worst."

And when they arrived, they found out that a lot of people _did_ show. They actually had trouble finding a seats, but luckily they found a small area after squeezing past a bunch of annoyed high schoolers.

They made it right on time, because as soon as they were settled in, Judson and Goode began their team chants and jogged onto the court.

Annabeth immediately spotted Reyna near the net and off to the side, readied in position. She didn't actually know what the position was called, but she understood that Reyna's position was a quicker, more aggressive spot.

On the other side was a much shorter girl with frizzy bronze locks. Annabeth knew her as Hazel Levesque, captain of the volleyball team, but she didn't really know anything beyond that.

The game started with Hazel setting the ball to another player and soon, the Goode Vipers **(A/N: yes I made that up too)** had their first point.

The Judson Blue Jays eventually made it ahead which lead to constant and much louder cheering from the Goode pep squad. The student section was getting rowdier too and Annabeth found herself taking part even though she hardly knew what was happening in the game. Piper and Annabeth pumped their fists yelling "Come on Vipers!" and "Show them what you got!".

The last few seconds of the game neared and it was neck and neck. The ball came hurdling in Reyna's direction. She and the girl right in front of her on the other side of the net jumped in unison. It happened in slow motion. Their arms raised, ready for the ball. Reyna wasn't going to let a Blue Jay block her hit. Her hand slapped the ball in just the right direction, and it flew passed the other girl, hitting the ground.

The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game with the Vipers reaching 25 points and Blue Jays only 23.

The crowd let out a roar of cheers. Annabeth and Piper's arms pumped through the air as they screamed spirit for their team. As the spectators all calmed down after the Goode victory, Piper turned to Annabeth.

"Can you come with me to get some nachos? I'm so hungry."

"Why didn't you get them during the game?"

"I didn't wanna miss anything. Duh."

Annabeth snorted and lead the way to the concession stand.

As they approached, Piper gasped as the two girls watched the concession lady shut the window right in their faces.

"Oh, come _on_!" she cried out. She sighed sadly. "Can we stop at Panda Express on the way back to my house?" she pleaded.

Annaneth nodded. She and Piper _always_ went to Panda Express, because it was the only fast food (in their area at least), that offered vegan options. Sometimes Annabeth was so over it that she would drive across town just to pick up something from Chick-fil-a or Wendy's. Piper felt really bad half the time and would insist on buying the food _for_ Annabeth.

But this time, Annabeth was actually craving Panda Express. Which she didn't understand, at all.

"Glad you could make it!" A voice exclaimed from behind them. Annabeth spun around. _Reyna Arellano._

"Of course!" she replied. "I'm happy I did too. Never knew how exciting volleyball was honestly," she said playfully.

Reyna smiled.

"Hold on," Annabeth said, pulling out her phone. "Gotta have a pic with the star player, right?"

Reyna laughed shyly and got next to Annabeth as Piper joined on the other side. Annabeth opened Snapchat and took a picture, then adding cute stickers and filters before adding it to her Story.

"I'll catch up with you girls later. My sister's waiting for me." Reyna gave a kind-hearted smile and left.

Once Annabeth and Piper had walked outside and were approaching the car, Annabeth stopped. "Wait." She thought for about two seconds before realizing what felt off. "I left my jacket inside. Be right back."

"Okay. I'll be in the car."

Annabeth started back towards the gym, but she stumbled into something before she could actually make it inside. She looked up and noticed that it wasn't something but rather _someone_.

"Hey, Annabeth." _Luke_. His tone didn't seem friendly.

"Hey, babe. Didn't know you went to the game tonight." She breathed out. "Sorry, Piper's waiting for me- I left something inside, I'll see you later." She bent up to give him a peck on the lips but the cold glare boring into her made her retreat.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What's up with you and Jackson." He said it in more of a statement rather than a question- more _demanding_.

Annabeth's heart pounded in her chest. _Did he find out?_ "What do you mean?" She felt her mouth go dry.

"I asked you a question. Now answer me."

"I- I don't know? We're friends, I guess."

Luke's nostrils flared. She could tell he was trying to calm himself, keeping him from lashing out on the spot.

"You two didn't look like friends today in the hall. Or the other day."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about..?"

"God damnit Annabeth! Don't you have a brain? I thought you were supposed to be smarter than this."

Um, _ouch_.

Annabeth flinched at his words. "Listen, dickhead, I said I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe if you explained I could actually give you an answer."

Annabeth's emotions raced from complete nervousness to enragement. Why is he so _rude_ sometimes?

Luke took a couple deep breaths. He sure as hell needed them.

"Today I saw the two of you acting _all-too-friendly_ with each other. You were standing way too close and smiling way too much."

Annabeth responded with a _seriously_? face. "Do you know how dumb you sound right now?"

Luke's eye twitched. "Let me finish, bitch. On Tuesday I saw you against the wall and him right in front of you. How are you gonna explain that to me, huh?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was having an anxiety attack and he happened to be there so he tried to help. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. And don't call me a bitch."

"Well don't call me a dickhead!"

"Then stop acting like one!"

On instant, Luke stepped in her direction and raised his arm. His fist clenched as he was right in her face. Annabeth took it as he was trying to intimidate her, but it only annoyed her.

She scoffed. "Jackass. Leave me alone." She pushed passed him to head inside the gym. Though she didn't act like it, Luke's words hurt her. Tears stung her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall.

She searched the stands and finally spotted her jacket laying upon the bleacher. She sniffled as she picked it up and started walking out again.

"Hey." A voice made her turn around.

Percy?

"Uh, hi."

"A-are you okay?" he hesitated. This was the second time he's asked her that question in a matter of 3 days.

She was about to easily reply with "yes", but she confided. "No. Not really."

Percy frowned. "Do you need to talk about it?"

Annabeth shook her head "no"

vigorously, but the tears that she been holding back, now pouring down her cheeks said otherwise. Too overwhelmed, she sat down on the bleacher next to her. Thankfully, only a few people were still in the gym. Percy sat down next to her, not knowing what else to do.

"It's just..." she began, even though she said she wouldn't talk. "... I thought I could handle it I guess. But- I don't know- the guilt just seems to be eating me alive. And now Luke was being really mean because he saw us in the hall together. And I told him it was nothing because it was nothing, but I kept reminding myself that something else _did_ happen, and he has every right to be suspicious, or be furious. I don't know what to do."

She held her head in her hands. Percy listened intently.

"And now Piper's been waiting for me in the car, but I don't wanna leave yet until I collect myself. I don't know if she saw Luke yelling at me or if she's even noticed how long I've been gone. But I don't wanna worry her. And I might be worrying her. But instead I'm in here _crying_ over something _I_ created." She clearly had a lot on her mind.

Percy took her hand in his, caressing it soothingly. " _We_ made that decision Annabeth. If you need somebody to lean on, of course I'm gonna be there for you. I get why you're upset, but just know you're not alone."

Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand, appreciating his comfort, and guiltily not wanting to let go. She sniffled, her crying coming to a slow. "You're right..."

Percy animatedly drew himself back. "Did Annabeth Chase just admit someone else was _right_?" A teasing grin appeared on his lips.

Annabeth pushed him playfully. "Shut up." A smile appeared on her lips too.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I should really get back to Piper now. Thank you for... being so okay with this."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Annabeth shrugged. She let go of his hand and gave him one last small smile before the leaving the gym and heading back out to her car. When she got in, Piper put her phone down and turned to her.

"Where have you been?!"

"Sorry, a lot happened. I don't wanna talk about it right now, but I'll tell you later."

Piper nodded understandingly. "...So are we still going to Panda?"

A laugh escaped from Annabeth's mouth. "Yes, we're still going to Panda."

Annabeth and Piper were sitting lazily on Piper's soft king-sized bed eating their Panda Express.

Piper got fried rice with cooked veggies. Annabeth never understood how she found that tasty, but she didn't question it. Her own bowl included chow mein and kung pao chicken- her usual.

Piper set down her empty bold on her nightstand. "Can I try a new hairstyle on you? I found it on Twitter yesterday."

"Sure. Just don't smother a ton of hairspray in this time."

Piper rolled her eyes. "I didn't know I was putting that much in at the time!"

Annabeth laughed as she recalled a late night of washing crisp hairspray from her hair all because Piper wanted to try something new on her.

Annabeth hopped off the bed with her Chinese bowl still in her hand, and sat down in the chair right in front of Piper's vanity where all her supplies were held.

Piper made her way over and organized everything she needed. Soon, she started brushing out Annabeth's hair to begin.

"So... do you wanna talk about why you came back to the car so late tonight?" Piper asked hesitantly. After a second of Annabeth not replying, she added, "It's okay if you don't. I'm just curious."

Annabeth sighed. "No it's fine." She took a second to remember the events. "You know how Percy and I are like friends now right?"

"Mhm."

"Well, a couple days ago he and I were walking in the hall together and my anxiety was getting really bad, so I stopped to take a second to calm down and Percy was nearby, helping me. We also walked to together from that same class today. Apparently Luke saw and thought it was something else, though."

Piper groaned, understanding where Annabeth was going with her story.

"So tonight when I went back to get my jacket, Luke ran into me and then confronted me about what he saw. We got into a bad argument. I stormed off. Then I ran into _Percy_. He comforted me a little as I grabbed my jacket, then I finally went back to the car."

Piper sighed deeply. "I'm so sorry Annabeth. You know you didn't do anything bad right?"

Annabeth swallowed a lump in her throat as she felt the familiar tears stinging out the corners of her eyes. "But that's just it Piper... I... I did a _really_ bad thing..."

 **I really can't tell if I like this chapter or not but here ya go.**

 **I also apologize for the lack of badass/strong Annabeth in this- I promise you'll be seeing more of her soon.**

 **Please leave reviews, whether it's love or constructive criticism!! I want to know what you guys think :)**


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